Hey Dude,

Hey Dude,

I just got to the school and truthfully, it looks just like I thought it would. It’s got the freakishly green trees, the shiny lawn, the giant building from the 1600s, and even the preppy white chicks. If it wasn’t for my roommate, I’d probably go crazy. (Or at least set another fire…)Her name is Faye and she’s a junior. She’s this crazy Asian chick who practically draws on everything. She seems like a really good person and she’s been nice to me ever since I got here. Granted, I first got here when she was in a heavy make-out session with her friend, but she was still nice.

What’s weird with this place is its secrecy. It’s like this place has a library full of secrets. So freaky. I was walking to the café with Tray (one of Faye’s friends) when people just… parted for him. It was so weird. Then I sat with Faye and I noticed they all had these silver rings. Totally bizarre. And this girl named Breea, who is such a bitch by the way, walks in and starts talking about Silvers and placements. I swear this place needs an instruction manual or something.

You know, when I left the house today, Mom and Dad weren’t even home? They went out for breakfast. You’d think they would want to say good bye to their other child before she left. But no. Then again, I guess I can understand. I mean, I am their ‘problem child’. And no, Hay, you don’t know what it feels like so don’t say something stupid.

How’s college life treating you? Better than high school, I hope.

Faye’s back so I’ll talk to you later, Bro. Love you.

Jael.

I pressed the send button without rereading what I wrote. I could see Faye moving around behind my laptop screen.

“Whatcha up to?” Faye asked as she flipped onto my bed. I shut my laptop and put it gently down on my nightstand.

“Just emailing my brother,” I answered.

“Oh! Is he hot?” I looked at her. She smiled mischievously at me but I could tell she was joking.

“He’s my brother,” I repeated. She rolled her eyes before directing her brown orbs to something beside me.

“Is that him? He’s hot.” I looked at what she was staring at and saw the picture of me and Kaden. My heart stung and I turned away to hide the tears.

“No,” I whispered. Faye seemed puzzled at my low tone but didn’t say a thing.

“Hm… alright. I’m bored; wanna watch a movie ‘til dinner?” She asked. I shrugged and she smiled before skipping over to her shelf of DVDs. After browsing for a few minutes she chose a movie and set it up. We sat comfortably on my bed and watched as the menu popped up.

Rush Hour 3.

I laughed as I saw Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker’s face.

“What? I love this movie!” She yelped with a grin. I rolled my eyes as the movie began and the room’s surround system came through. The actors were constantly bickering, making Faye crack up. I sat silently beside her, giving her soft chuckles to show I was watching. I’d already watched the movie with Kaden before and the movie made my heart ache more than it made me laugh.

Before I knew it, the movie ended and Faye was stretching out her lean body near the DVD player as she placed it back on the shelf.

“Okay, now I’m hungry. When the hell is that stupid bell-” A loud clang from the café’s bell rang throughout the campus and she smiled. She slipped on her Converses and grabbed her keys. She started walking over to the door and I stood up to follow.

“I swear you have super powers,” I muttered, not thinking she could hear over the clanging.

“Nah, I’m just awesome,” She said with a smirk as I stood beside her. I raised my eyebrow.

How the hell did she hear me over that loud clanging?

“I have sensitive ears,” She offered as we walked into the hall. My eyes grew wide and she laughed. Her eyes became lines on her clear face and her smile made her entire appearance glow.

“Right,” I mumbled with a tone of disbelief which just caused her to laugh harder. We reached the end of the hallway where a crowd of girls were pushing each other to get to the main entrance. I could sense Faye getting annoyed.

“Ahem,” She coughed while standing behind the large crowd. As if by magic, the girls stopped their talking and stood by the walls to let us by. I raised my eyebrows but couldn’t ask Faye since she was already walking past the crowd of silent girls. Once we got outside, however, I jumped to ask her. She shrugged and answered with, “Part of the secret.”

Before I could ask anymore, we were in café and she was already walking over to her table. Only Jace was there but the two automatically started a conversation. I walked into the line and grabbed a tray. Since I didn’t eat any lunch, I was starving now.

“Oh! I’m sorry, go ahead.” I looked at the girl in front of me and she was staring right back at me.

“Excuse me?” I asked, wondering if she was talking to me. Her cheeks warmed and she looked down shyly at the ground.

“Go ahead in front of me. I-I didn’t know you were behind me, I’m s-sorry.”

“It’s alright. You didn’t see us,” A deep voice rang out from behind me. I turned around and saw Drue with a seductive grin. Without a word, he brought me up to where the food was being served. People behind us shrugged and remained silent as we cut in front of them. I turned back to Drue and saw him telling the café ladies what he wanted. I did the same, albeit a bit reluctantly. Finally, we came to the cashier and I saw Drue bring out his ID.

“Oh shit,” I mumbled. He turned to me and asked what was wrong. “I forgot to get my ID again.”

“I’ll pay for hers too,” He told the cahier. She nodded and went on with her job. I followed Drue and thanked him before promising him I would pay him back. He laughed as he sat down across from Faye. The seating was the same from this afternoon so I sat beside Faye.

“Babe, one lunch isn’t gonna get me bankrupt. Relax,” He told me as he dug into his dinner. I nodded and began eating my pasta. Beside me, Faye was eating a salad again and I wondered if she was a vegetarian.

“I just don’t like to owe people things,” I replied while taking a drink of my water.

“Well,” He drawled. “You could pay me back in another way,” He said in a suggestive manner. He waggled his eyebrows and winked at me when I looked at him with a blank stare.

“Drue, I’m trying to eat,” Faye said with a smile. He shrugged and continued eating. I watched the scene silently. From the corner of my eye I could see someone sitting down across from me and when I looked over, I saw Tray gazing back at me.

“Hey,” He greeted when our eyes met. I nodded and went back to eating.

“Where are Breea and Ry? Making out again?” Jace asked with a bit of a sarcastic tone in his voice.

“Nah, they’re getting ready for the Burton party,” Drue answered when no one else did. Natalie (or Naomi) was fixing her hair so I’m not even sure she heard and Harper was reading.

“I thought you two were going,” Faye commented.

“We are. But we’re men, baby and we gotta eat!” Drue said and took a large bite out of his burger, to show off his manliness I’m assuming.

Faye rolled her eyes. “You sleep with a nightlight, Mr. Man.” Tray and Jace started laughing whereas I just gave a small grin.

“That’s not for me. That’s for the visitors I get,” He quickly informed us with a wink.

“So why is it on even when there’s no one but me and you in the room?” Tray questioned with a gleam in his mystifying eyes.

“Why the hell are you all ganging up on me? This is really unjust. Don’t you agree, Tongues?” He asked while looking at me. I raised my eyebrow at him.

“Tongues?” I repeated.

“Yeah. Did you really think I wouldn’t see that tongue ring of yours?”

“Well I didn’t think you would stare at my tongue,” I mumbled.

“Trust me, baby, when I examine someone, I examine everything,” He promised with another wink.

“Right…”

“And just so you know, I can’t wait to test it out.”

I could see the mischief in his eyes and it made me wonder if this boy was for real. Could a guy really be this horny all the time? We held our gazes until I stood up and walked around the table. I could feel him and rest of the table watch me as I strolled over to him. I bent down to his height, since he was seated, and leaned dangerously close to his lips.

“Do you really think I would?” I mumbled with my warm breath against his cheek. His deep chuckle came to my ears and I pushed against his thigh to stand back up properly. Drue’s eyes were filled with lust when I gazed into them. I inwardly smirked at how easily aroused this boy was. I walked back to my seat where I could feel Tray’s gaze on me. Faye was smiling as if the whole situation was hilarious and the others barely noticed.

“You and I are gonna be good friends, I can tell,” Faye told me later that night when we were in our room. I turned around from my unpacking to look at her.

“Why do you say that?” I asked as I ran my hand through my damp and freshly washed hair.

She sat down on my bed next to my half unpacked suitcase and smirked. “The girls around here are boring. And if they’re not boring, they’re sluts. But you… you’re different. I’ve seen slutty girls around Drue and they’ll just let him do whatever the hell he wants. You totally played him and it’s something he’s not used to. It’s good to show a guy you’re in control.”

I looked at her with surprised eyes. “Thanks.”

“You have a brain too, unlike the rest of the dumb bitches around here…” She muttered. I let out a soft chuckle before resuming my unpacking.

I came to my photo album of my friends which was at the bottom of my suitcase. I gently stroked the cover and felt my eyes sting.

“What’s that?” Faye questioned. I looked up at her and shrugged before handing her the album. Once she began flipping through the pages, I continued to put my clothes in the closet near my bed.

“Who’s he?” Faye asked. I looked at her and saw her pointing at Hayden in a picture we took two summers ago. We were both at our beach house and the sun shined behind us. My hair was still brown so we looked almost like twins with our matching green eyes and fresh tans.

“Hayden; he’s my brother,” I answered as I put my shoes on floor of my closet. She nodded.

“He’s pretty hot,” I heard her say.

I stood up and looked at her, “I didn’t need to know that.” She laughed and continued to look at the pictures.

“It’s not like you didn’t know. Plus, I give you permission to check out my brothers,” She said with a shrug.

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Just two; Carter and Jace. Carter graduated last year and you already know Jace,” She informed me.

“I see,” I mumbled. “Jace is alright, I guess.” She looked up from the page and a small grin came on her face.

“Now I’m sure we’ll be good friends.” I chuckled and asked her why she said that. “Ever since freshman year I’ve been hearing ‘OH MY GOSH FAYE! YOUR BROTHERS ARE SO HOT!’ I don’t understand why those girls feel the need to tell me.”

“I never went to school with Hay. I kept changing schools.”

“Oh yeah,” She said before yawning. She shut my photo album which I took and placed on my nightstand. “Man, I’m tired. I’m gonna go to bed.” I nodded and watched as she slipped in between her covers. I realized how tired I really was and followed her actions. We shut our lights and said our good nights before dozing off.

I glared at the teacher as he forced me to ‘tell the class a bit about myself’.

“I’m Jael and I hate teachers who force me to tell people, who don’t even care, about myself,” I said clearly once I stood up. Mr. Martin’s eyes grew wide but thanked me nonetheless. I sat down and looked at the rest of my class in Holton Academy, my newest school. Just as I shut my eyes and began to block out the teacher’s talking, I felt something hit me on my arm.

My eyes opened and I saw a tiny folded note on my desk. I turned to my right and saw a boy with dyed black hair and piercing green eyes staring at me. He had a gleaming lip ring that made his pale face seem even paler and thick eyelashes that made his eyes unbelievably remarkable. He looked at the note then back to my eyes. I stroked the paper softly and debated on whether or not to read it. After five minutes of not being able to get the subject off my mind, I began unfolding the paper.

You’d look better with black hair. The paper read in scratchy letters. I turned back to the mysterious boy with unforgettable green eyes and saw him looking back at me. I fingered my dark brown locks and inwardly admitted he was right. Brown just didn’t fit me or my attitude. I took my black pen out of my back pocket and wrote on the paper.

Who are you? I wrote. I tossed it onto his desk and seconds later, it came back to me.

A friend. I read.

A friend with a name, I hope.

You seem like a smart girl. Find out. I looked at the boy just as the bell rung. He picked up his bag and began walking out of the room. I followed him down the hall, which wasn’t hard since he was decked out in black while everyone else wore nauseatingly bright colors. After following him down three hallways, I saw him stop at a locker in the sophomore wing. I walked up to him and leaned against the locker beside him.

“What class you got next, kid?” I asked, not bothering to be polite.

“Lunch,” He answered back in his deep voice. I nodded and took out my own schedule. Amazingly, it said lunch. He glanced at my schedule also and saw I was going where he was. Once he shut his locker, he began walking, expecting me to follow.

We walked into the busy cafeteria without saying a word and walked over to an empty table. I took out my water bottle and watched as he sat back in his seat with his eyes closed. Right when I was about to say something, another girl sat down beside me and a boy sat next to ‘kid’.

“Dawn,” The girl next to me said when I looked over at her. I nodded in her direction and told her my name.

“Johnny,” The boy said. I nodded again at him and was about to ask for the kid’s name when I noticed he was watching me. Johnny handed him a bag of chips and the kid began devouring it.

“So, where are you from?” Dawn asked curiously as she ate her granola bar. Seeing as how she was skinny as a stick, her lunch didn’t surprise me.

“Stilkans,” I answered, saying the name of my last school.

“Mm,” She mumbled before her head snapped back over to my face. “Are you that chick who got kicked out for sneaking into the teachers’ lounge and poisoning the coffee or something?”

“Partly,” I mumbled. That wasn’t all I did to get kicked out, but it was part of it. I would have told the girl that but I didn’t really care if she knew about it or not.

“Well, that was genius. I mean, shutting down the school for a week because all their teachers were out throwing up their brains? Hilarious,” Dawn complimented with a harmonious laugh. I mumbled thanks before taking another sip of water. I looked over at the ‘kid’ again and saw him staring into the space behind my head. When I turned, I saw an empty table. I met his eyes again and it was like we were communicating through our matching green orbs. Dawn did most of the talking during the lunch period and before I knew it, the bell rung and kids were exiting the room. I followed the ‘kid’ out the doors but before I could walk off, he stuffed something in my hand.

Kaden. It read. I smiled, thinking this year may just end up differently.

I sat up in my bed with sweat shining my forehead. I looked around and found the unfamiliar room oddly comforting. I collapsed back onto my bed and felt the wet sheets against my skin. I touched my cheeks and as usual, tears streaked them. I lied on my bed, waiting for my breath to catch up and for my heart to stop pounding.

Once I was calm – or at least calmer – I glanced at the bright, blinking clock.

5:03 AM, it said as if to mock me. I looked out the window near my bed and saw the dark sky beyond our curtains. Faye was still sound asleep in her bed, her chest going up and down periodically. I pushed the hair sticking on my forehead back and knew from experience that I wouldn’t be going back to sleep. I quietly pushed my covers back and tip toed to the bathroom.

I walked up to the mirror that framed a large wall of our bathroom and saw my tired, sunken eyes and my pale face. My eyes were duller than before and my face still glistened with sweat. I picked up my toothbrush and began doing my daily process. After showering and changing into a pair of comfortable sweatpants, I realized I still had more than an hour before breakfast. I walked back into the room and stuffed my feet into my flip flops.

Deciding I would go get my ID, I walked towards the student mailboxes at the edge of campus. The morning air was crisp and I regretted not wear a thicker sweatshirt. My shoes made rhythmic noises against the ground and the sound seemed unbearably loud on the quiet campus.

The sun was just beginning to show and the sky still swirled with dozens of colors. I could hear leaves crunching which made me stiffen since I was on concrete and there were only leaves on the lawn. I slowly turned around and saw a tall figure wearing shorts and a sweatshirt – with the hood up – running towards me with his head down. When he was almost in front of me, he came to a slow jog. He lifted his head and I saw the shocking blue eyes of Tray.

“Hey,” His voice rang out.

“Hey.”

“What’re you doing up so early?” He asked as we both began walking towards the mailboxes. I doubt he knew where we were heading but I truthfully didn’t care.

“Couldn’t sleep,” I answered half-heartedly once I remembered what caused me to wake.

“Ah, the curse of insomnia,” He joked. “Drue’s like that some times. He just can’t sleep and makes me stay up with him all night. It’s crazy.”

“Yeah,” I muttered.

There was a silence before he decided to finally ask, “Where are we going?”

“Mailboxes; I need my ID.”

“Oh,” He said before stopping in his tracks. I turned to look at him quizzically. “The mailboxes are over there.” He pointed behind us and I instantly felt embarrassment rush over me. However, I knew he wouldn’t be able to see it. In the past year or so, I’ve learned –from an expert - how to hide my emotions that I used to wear on my sleeve.

“Right,” I said as I walked towards where he pointed. He followed me and the silence continued. We finally reached the empty building and I quietly stepped through the threshold whereas Tray just stomped in. I looked for my last name in the sophomore section and stuck the key, that was given to me by Maggie last night, into the tiny lock.

“Hm, nice picture,” He commented. I looked down at my ID and noticed they used my yearbook picture from my last school. By then I’d already had my hair dyed jet black. I wore heavy eyeliner and had my hair messily set up on my head, having a few strands falling off. I wore my favorite black skirt and my black tank top over a plain white t-shirt that hugged my curves. My tongue was stuck out to reveal my tongue ring and my right hand was held up in a peace sign. It was originally just my middle finger, but the yearbook staff edited it. Usually, I wouldn’t have even gone through the trouble of taking a picture. But Dawn dared me (along with the make-up, hair and middle finger) so I ended up taking a stupid picture that I’m sure people talked about.

I muttered a sarcastic thanks before locking my mailbox back up and walking out of the building. Tray followed easily with his long strides and I immediately became jealous of his height.

“So, tell me why you moved to boring old Reiner,” He requested in the crisp morning. I pulled my sweatshirt closer and let the warmth envelope me. I glanced at his shorts and wondered if he was crazy. He must have seen me looking because he chuckled and said, “I don’t get cold easily.”

I nodded and answered his question in a mumble. “The dean ‘recommended’ I go to another school since I beat this girl up.”

“Ouch, remind me not to mess with you,” He joked with a light smile. With the light reflecting off his hair and deep eyes, he looked right out of a magazine. I stopped walking and turned towards him.

“Would you really need a reminder?” He seemed unshaken by the question and made a face that told me he was thinking.

“Yeah, I think I would.” I raised my eyebrow at him. We began walking towards my dorm again.

Most people would take one glance at me and walk away or at least stare at me as if I was a freak of nature. They think that just because I liked to wear the color black, I worshipped Satan and would send devils after them if they messed with me. People tend to steer clear of me just because of the way I looked. I didn’t understand it and yet I understood it all too well.

They think I’m dangerous.

Well, maybe I am. Or maybe I wear black because it’s the easiest way for people to leave me alone. Maybe I wear it to make a statement. Or I just really like black. Or maybe…I wear it to mourn.

What surprised me the most was Tray didn’t seem to think any of that. He didn’t think I was dangerous. He didn’t seem to think I would truly hurt anyone.

“Why do you think that?” I whispered once we reached the front of my dorm. He seemed confused at first until he remembered what we were discussing before.

“Why shouldn’t I think that? The only thing I know about you is that your name is Jael, you came from Vermont, you don’t have a boyfriend, you used to – maybe, still – smoke, you once burned down a dorm room, you’ve gotten kicked out of a few schools, you like to scare ‘preppy bitches’, you beat up some girl and you have nice eyes. Truthfully, that doesn’t sound that bad to me. I’ve heard worse shit before,” He said with a shrug.

I eyed him warily, as if he was about to scream ‘SIKE!’ and run away. “You’re crazier than I thought.”

“No, I’m just more open-minded.” He smiled softly and for a second, he looked like an angel to me.

Or maybe just a really good actor.

“Whatever,” I said as I began walking up the stairs. I opened the dorm door and stopped before I took a step. I looked back out at him and saw him staring right back at me. “I quit smoking.”

I’m not sure why I felt the need to tell him. But it seemed important to me. As if, maybe, he would look at me in a better light than before. He nodded and began walking back to his own room. I started ascending the stairs to my bedroom which already had music spewing out of it. I stepped in and heard Faye singing in the bathroom.

I walked over to my drawers and began picking out an outfit. Just as I took out a pair of black pants, I realized something.

I actually cared what Tray thought of me.

“There you are,” Faye said. I turned towards her and saw her walking around in a pair of hot pink underwear and a polka dotted bra, unashamed. “Your cell phone was ringing when I woke up.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Where were you anyways?” She asked as she slipped into a pair of skinny jeans.

I stepped into a pair of black pants that hugged my curves near the top and were insanely loose near the bottom. “I had to get my ID from the mailboxes.”

“Oh; well I’m starving.” I looked at the clock near my bed and saw it was 7:03 AM. Breakfast started three minutes ago.

I put on a black tank top then a white low-cut shirt on top of it. After wards, I put on eyeliner (not as much as the day before, of course) and let my naturally straight hair scatter across my back. I slipped on my black flip flops, stuffed my phone in my pocket and checked if Faye was ready.

She was putting on eyeliner and did it quickly and perfectly. Being an artist really does help, I suppose. She was wearing a baby doll shirt and a pair of flats that matched perfectly. She turned towards me and smiled.

“Bought it as a set,” She explained. I nodded and we began walking towards the café. We went our separate ways to get food. She went towards the cereal whereas I went towards the bagels.

After getting the food and finally paying it on my own, I saw Ashley waving to me again. With a sigh, I went towards her.

“Morning Jael!” She chirped.

“Morning,” I muttered. The twins seemed to share my enthusiasm since they merely nodded their sleepy heads at me.

“So, how was your first day?”

“… it didn’t really start yet,” I answered. She giggled innocently and bit into her own bagel.

“I mean, how was your yesterday? I’m guessing it was pretty good since you were with them the entire time. That must be awesome, having Faye Lee as your roommate,” She said, obviously wanting to know more than she said.

“They’re okay, I guess,” I replied with a bit of mocking in my voice. She didn’t seem to notice. “Faye’s pretty cool too.”

“What about Drue? He’s so-”

“Jael,” Harper cut in. I turned towards her and I saw her eyes were directed towards Ashley.

“What’s up?” I asked, breaking the eye contact between the two girls.

“I think you should come back to our table,” She answered in a bit of a demanding tone. I saw Harper’s eyes had returned back to Ashley and the two didn’t speak. I sat uncomfortably with the tension in the air and inwardly debated whether or not I should leave Ashley.

“Go ahead, Jael. I’ll just talk to you later,” Ashley suggested. I nodded and silently thanked Ashley for letting me walk away with Harper guilt-free.

Faye looked up when I sat beside her. She smiled and everyone greeted me, besides Drue and Tray who were still getting food.

“Jayla,” Breea said. I looked up when Faye elbowed me. I saw Breea looking straight at me and I raised my eyebrow. “You can’t just sit wherever the hell you want. You sit at this table now.”

“Tell me, Brianna, why I can’t sit wherever the hell I want,” I asked in the same tone she used with me as Tray sat across from me.

“It’s Breea,” She emphasized.

“It’s Jael,” I mocked.

“Fine, Jael, you can’t sit at other tables because you’re at this one. It’s either this table or the others. You can’t have both.”

“And why is that?” I asked, hoping for some answers. In the past 30 or so hours, I still haven’t found out what was so special about this group.

“Because when you’re with Sil-”

“Breea, that’s enough,” Jace said with a warning tone in his voice. He glared at her and she crossed her arms.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes before muttering, “Whatever.”

Rylan leaned in towards her and began whispering again. The table remained silent.

“Baby, you have to be more careful,” I heard him whisper before Drue started talking; leaving me wondering what Breea had to be more careful with.

I sat a bit farther in my seat and felt something poke my thigh. I fingered my pocket and felt my cell phone. I took it out and saw I had an email.

From: Hayden

Well, the school sounds… boring. Just promise me to not burn it down. And if you decide to, be more careful to not get caught. ;) Your roommate sounds pretty cool. Artists are always fun. Dave (my roommate) is more interested in beer than any thing else, so I would kill to have someone besides this kid. I swear I’ve never seen this guy sober.

Secrecy? Well, it’s high school. Everything’s about secrets and gossip. Well… sex too. Anyways, I wouldn’t get too worried about it. After all, you’re still the new kid. Just chill out for now and you’ll find out sooner or later. Until then, don’t be so paranoid.

College is … still school. It’s better than high school but way more work. The only thing better are the parties and the girls. I actually met this girl named Charlie Marmsi. She’s a freshman, like me, from Florida. She’s really nice and we went on a few dates already.

It’s getting late and I have a class so I guess I’ll have to talk to you later, little sister.

Love, Hayden (the most awesome guy in the world who you’re insanely lucky for having as a brother)

P.S. Stay strong. He’d want that.

My eyes began getting watery at the last part and I knew Hayden was right. Kaden would want that. He never liked it when people showed weakness. He said he pitied them and that if they were going to whine or cry, then they deserved nothing.

I began typing a text to Hayden who was probably in class.

I miss the old days. What ever happened to Best Friends For Life? I shoved the phone back in my pocket and stared down at the table. I made sure my eyes were dry before looking up. Everyone was talking and laughing, besides Tray. He was staring at me again.

“You alright?” He asked in a low voice. I nodded, thankful that he brought no attention to me. I felt my leg vibrate and reached for my phone.

From: Hayden

He’s still your best friend, J.

I pressed reply and began typing.

Best friends don’t do what I did.

Seconds later, I saw Hayden had replied.

Stop blaming yourself. You tried helping him.

Hayden told me this so many times, the words felt unreal. I decided against replying him and put the phone back into my pocket before finishing off half my bagel. I remained silent for most of the lunch until Faye asked me about my classes. I took the paper out of my pocket, which I almost forgot I had, and gave it to her. She read it off and found out who I shared classes with. I nodded and barely listened, which I’m sure no one besides Tray – who was still staring at me – noticed.

I looked back into his blue eyes and saw his lips turn up a bit. Right when he was about to say something, the bell rang. I stood up, not bothering to wait for him.

“Jael,” I turned around at the sound of Harper’s soft voice. “We’re in the same English class; I’ll show you where it is.” I nodded and waited for her to get her things. Faye was still sitting at the table, chatting away to Drue. Naomi was checking her make-up (like always) while Jace was already gone. Breea and Rylan were making out (what a surprise…) while Tray was stuffing food in his mouth. It seemed like the only ones who moved were Harper and I.

“Come on, or else we’ll be late,” She said. I nodded again and followed her. I heard a few people yell ‘See you later’ or ‘Bye’ when we walked off.

“Why are they all just sitting there?” I questioned once Harper and I entered the busy hallway.

She looked at me with disbelief before realization came over her. “It’s not a big deal for them.”

I was about to ask why when she turned abruptly into a classroom, not letting me say a word. After seeing her sit down in the front, I was going to further question her. However, the bell rung and the teacher saw my new face.

“Oh, hello! You must be the new girl I’ve heard about. Would you like to tell the class a bit about yourself?” She said politely with a wide smile. Immediately I could tell what type of teacher she was. She loved teaching and found the rules stupid but always followed them. She also adored her students and wanted the best for them. And most importantly, she was too much of a pushover to bitch at her students.

The words were all too familiar and I felt my heart sink a bit.

“No, I wouldn’t,” I replied as I walked to an empty seat in the back. I could see, using my peripheral vision, her face gaining a surprised look. But seconds later, her bubbly voice filled the room again. A few people turned to look at me but I ignored it as I slouched in my seat, preparing to catch up on the sleep I missed out on the night before.

Notes: This chapter was like 6,000 words. That's double my last two chapters! I know Jael sounds like a bitch and Tray sounds like a stalker, but bear with me! I hope you guys like it and once again, Reviews are cool. :)

Questions:

What was the point of that scene with Drue?
Um... there wasn't much of a point. It was just there to show a bit of her personality.

Hayden's her brother? Then who's Kaden? What is with this Kaden guy?!
Hayden is Jael's brother. Kaden is Jael's best friend. That's all I can tell you about him. Sorry :P

Jael's a bitch.
Yes, yes she is. But mostly, she just doesn't care.

Reviews? :o